Mission: Impossible
by StoneByrd
Summary: A five-minute trip to the general store turns into a desperate chase through the streets of NinjaGo City, and Lloyd has no idea if he is going to make it out alive. (Cover art is mine)


_Mission: Impossible_

* * *

"Come on out, Lloyd."

"No."

"I can still see you."

"I'm not coming."

"It'll only take five minutes, maximum, and I'm not leaving you alone in this car."

"What, you think I'll get attacked or something?"

"That's exactly what I think."

"You can't make me."

"Wanna bet?"

Lloyd gritted his teeth. "No," he admitted.

"Then come on out of that car." Cole put his hands on his hips and glared at him. Lloyd blew air out of his mouth slowly, pulled the hood of Cole's jacket down over his eyes, and tentatively opened the car door. He stepped out into the rainy day, pulling his jacket tighter around himself, as if expecting a bolt of lightning to shoot out of the sky and knock him unconscious any moment.

Cole patted his tense shoulder. "It's okay. It won't take long. Besides, if I had left you at home, you'd be frying your brains on electronics, and you need to learn to come out into the open safely."

Lloyd muttered something under his breath as Cole shut Garmadon's car door behind him. _What I wouldn't give to be playing video games now, safely back at the Destiny's Bounty._ He swallowed, then followed the Ninja of Earth through the strangely empty streets of NinjaGo City.

Their destination was a simple little general store on the corner of the street. Though it wasn't far, Lloyd was not taking any chances; he glanced this way and that, keeping the hood of Cole's borrowed jacket over his eyes.

"Relax," Cole told him. They reached the shop, and he opened the door for the sixteen-year-old. "No one will find you here, nor will they even recognize you in that getup! And look, hardly anyone's here. What are the chances that _they_'ll just happen to be in the exact same store as you?"

"If I know _them_," Lloyd said quietly, "the chances are pretty good."

"Oh, stop worrying. If _they_ show up, it's on me."

Lloyd nodded and let go of the hood, but didn't unmask himself.

Cole looked around. "Okay. All we need is pain medication, cold medicine, and those cookie sprinkles for Zane. This will only take two minutes, Lloyd. If you can find something small and cheap in that time, I might just buy it for you."

Lloyd flinched at the sound of his name. "Can I have a codename? Please?"

Cole sighed. "Lloyd, it's fine. I told you, if you get caught, it's on me."

"Okay. . ." Lloyd said hesitantly. He allowed himself to wander away from Cole, browsing the store's contents.

Something small and cheap. The first thing that came to mind was chocolate. So he searched for the candy aisle, and when he found it, he strode down the aisle, plucked the biggest bar from the shelves, and smiled victoriously. Small, check. Cheap, check. He was set to go. Then - across the aisle. . .

Three figures stood, all dressed in black, sporting black sunglasses and boots, huddling together, discussing in hushed tones.

Lloyd dropped the candy bar, pulled his hood over his eyes, and quickly walked in the opposite direction. As soon as he left the aisle, he ran to the back of the store.

_How did they find me here?_ he thought frantically. _I shouldn't have let my guard down. Oh, this is bad, this is bad, I knew this was a bad idea from the beginning._

What could he do? His heart was beating like a drum, and everything more than three feet in front of him became an eye-watering blur. He closed his eyes, breathing deeply through his nose, trying to think.

He needed to contact Cole somehow. He could try to call him, but Cole didn't use his phone. Ever. If Lloyd called, there was no guarantee that he would pick up, assuming that he even had his phone with him in the first place, which was doubtful.

How could he get out of this? Calling Cole was his best bet. Running to him would be suicidal, if they knew he was here. Negotiating was impossible. These people didn't negotiate. They took what they wanted, without question, without uncertainty.

He was trapped.

Lloyd fumbled his phone out of his pocket. With shaky fingers, he dialed Cole's number. "Please pick up, please pick up," he murmured, trying to stay calm, but trembling with suspense and fear.

_Ring._

_Ring._

_Ring._

"Come on."

_Ring._

_Ring._

"Please hurry up!"

_Ring._

_Ring._

_Static._

"Hello?"

"Cole!" Lloyd gasped. "Thank goodness! I need your help! _They_ found me, _they_'re here in the store -"

"Woah, woah, hold on! Cole left his phone at home. It's Kai."

"_What_?!"

"It's Kai. What's the matter? You get arrested for shoplifting or something?"

"I'm trapped!" Lloyd said frantically. "I'm trapped, they have me cornered!"

"Who? What's going on? . . . Is this a joke?"

"_No_! Not a joke!"

"Where _are_ you?!"

"Shh!" Lloyd said suddenly. He put his hand over the receiver, listening, his heart beating loud and fast in his ears.

"Lloyd?" Kai's voice came from the muffled receiver. "Lloyd, hey! Answer me! _Lloyd_!"

Lloyd hung up on him, hoping that they couldn't hear Kai talking. His instincts were telling him to run, but his legs were frozen. He flattened himself against the wall, his face wet with perspiration.

_Clip, clop, clip, clop. . ._

There was no mistaking it. That was definitely them - Lloyd would recognize the sound of their footsteps anywhere. And they were getting closer.

_Clip, clop, clip, clop. . ._

Lloyd blinked hard and fast. His heart throbbed in his chest.

_Clip, clop, clip._

The _clip-clop_ping stopped. Lloyd couldn't breathe. His hands shook, his heart pounded wildly.

"_Lloyd_," whispered a voice. "_We've been looking for you._"

Lloyd lost it. He ran, screaming, for the front of the store, waving his arms, his hood swept off his face, revealing his true identity for all to see. "Cole!" he shouted. "Go! Run! They're here! They found me!"

Cole whipped around, in the process of receiving his change. "You're kidding!" he said. Lloyd screamed again, and ran out the door. Cole immediately grabbed the coins in the cashier's outstretched hand, snatched up the bag of items, and sprinted after Lloyd, leaving the cashier standing, shocked, at the checkout.

Cole and Lloyd ran like the wind across the vacant street, ignoring the rain, which was now whipping into their faces, and didn't stop until they reached Garmadon's car. They panted for breath. Cole grabbed Lloyd's arms.

"How did they find you?" he gasped. "How? _How_?!"

"I don't know!" Lloyd squeaked. "They've got spies everywhere though! How are we to know if they had people in every store in NinjaGo City?"

"Do you think they're following us?" Cole said, peering through the tinted windows. Lloyd wiped the rainwater that was streaming down into his eyes.

"They're following us!" he said, and pointed. Three black figures standing in front of the shop pointed back at them.

"In the car!" Cole shouted. Lloyd ran around to the passenger's seat, opened the door and slammed it shut behind him as quickly as he could as Cole scrambled for the car keys.

"Come on!" Lloyd screamed.

"Shut up, I'm going!" Cole thrust the key into the ignition, turned it, and hit the gas pedal.

"Go! _Go_, Cole!"

"I _am_ going!"

"They're getting in a car!"

"_What_?!"

"Just go, please, _please_!"

Garmadon's old car shot forward down the street. "Alright!" Cole said. "We're going!"

If Lloyd was scared before, it was nothing to the terror he felt now. His mind was blank, his hands were trembling, and his heart was beating so fast he thought it would burst.

Cole barreled down the empty street as fast as he could without surpassing the speed limit or sliding off the road. He switched the windshield wipers on and set them to high. "Dang it! I can't see anything! Are they following us?"

Lloyd rolled down his window and stuck his head out into the biting cold and looked behind them. "I don't think they're following us, but I can't see them," he reported, trying to sound calmer than he actually was.

Cole sighed. "Good, because if they were chasing us, in this weather, we'd go sliding into an apartment or something."

Lloyd squinted through the rain. He couldn't see anything for a little bit, but part of him knew that these people would not let them get away so easily.

And he was right.

A sleek black car came hurtling around the corner behind them, ignoring the speed limit and safety entirely, coming at them at nearly eighty miles per hour.

"They're following! They're following!" Lloyd screamed. The moment he said that, Cole hit the gas pedal even harder, and turned sharply around a corner. Lloyd brought his head back into the car, when the whole car lurched forward and a sharp, loud _CRACK_ of a gunshot sounded in his ear. Lloyd screamed and covered his ears. Cole turned suddenly and the screech of tires filled the air.

"Lloyd!" Cole shouted. "Lloyd! Are you okay?"

Lloyd whimpered, took his hands away from his ears and put them on his chest.

"Did they shoot you?!" Cole yelled, taking one hand off the wheel and shaking Lloyd's shoulder frantically. "Lloyd, answer me!"

"I'm okay," Lloyd whispered finally. "They didn't hit me."

"Thank goodness," Cole said, and put his eyes back on the road. "Why are they shooting at us?"

"I don't know," Lloyd said. He felt faint.

"The Destiny's Bounty is by my Dad's house," Cole said, his voice strangely calm. "That's only about a block away, but we need to lose these people before we go back. I'm going to take the long way around, see if we can shake them if we go fast enough."

"But that's dangerous!" said Lloyd. "We could crash in this weather!"

"So could they!"

"Yeah, but they'll be slowing down at the turns for sure, right?"

"Exactly." Cole's face was grim. "Lloyd, this is our best shot. If we don't slow down until we get home, we'll outrun them eventually."

"Cole, that's suicide!" Lloyd shouted at him. "You're going to kill us!"

"I'm not that bad a driver!" Cole said hoarsely.

"It doesn't matter if you're a bad driver or not, it's -"

_CRACK_!

Another bang, and the car lurched forward. Lloyd ducked.

"Cole, don't do this!" he said.

"What choice do we have?" Cole gritted his teeth, and turned so fast and sharp that Lloyd, not having strapped himself in, crashed up against the window. "Get your seatbelt on, idiot!" Cole said. He slammed down on the gas pedal.

Lloyd's head throbbed with the impact. Dazed and clutching his head, he buckled himself in, fumbling for the seatbelt. When he could finally see straight, he turned around, watching for their pursuers. They weren't far behind them. Cole turned again.

"You're crazy!" Lloyd yelled.

"So what?" Cole yelled back. He wrenched the steering wheel to the side again, and the car nearly went plowing into a hotel. Lloyd sat stick-straight in his seat, frozen, watching the road, which was shrouded in the silver mist of rain.

Cole turned every chance he got. Each turn, their pursuers got farther and farther behind them. Cole was right - they were no where near as crazy as he was.

"Is it working?" Cole asked.

"Y-yeah!" Lloyd said, shocked. "But how?"

"These people might want to get us," Cole said, grinning and licking his lips, "but we want to get _away_ from them more."

He jerked the wheel to the right, and pressed the gas pedal even harder. This time, the car actually scraped a fire hydrant. The sound grated on Lloyd's ears, and chills ran down his spine.

"Almost there!" Cole shouted. Lloyd started to recognize his surroundings. "We'll lose them for good once we get to the intersection. We're just lucky the roads are so empty, or else we'd never escape."

Lloyd glanced behind them. Their foe was falling farther and farther behind Garmadon's car.

"Here it is!" Cole cried. "The intersection! One last turn to make!"

Lloyd braced himself. With a whoop of enjoyment, Cole wheeled to the left, barely making it around the bend without hitting the library. Lloyd's heart lurched at a moment of suspension as the car turned so quickly that the entire vehicle nearly flipped over.

"We lost them!" Cole said, grinning from ear to ear. "And there's Dad's house! We made it!"

They hollered with joy as the car slowed and pulled up in Cole's father's driveway. "Out! Out!" Cole yelled, wrenching the keys out of the ignition and grabbing the bag from the general store. "Get to the Destiny's Bounty!"

He and Lloyd ran screaming for the Destiny's Bounty, which was parked on a hill behind Mr. Brookstone's house. They both tried hard not to slip, and eventually they made it to the giant flying ship.

"The ramp!" Lloyd said breathlessly. "We can't get up without the ramp!"

"Oh, yes we can!" Cole said, and without stopping, he ran up the side of the ship, grabbed the railing, and flipped over the side of the boat. "Come on! Climb!"

"I'm climbing! I'm climbing!" Lloyd said. He grabbed hold of a loose board and pulled himself up, clambering over the railing. Cole grabbed his sleeve and pulled him towards the Bridge.

"Run!" he said. They ran across the slippery deck, threw the Bridge door open, and slammed it shut.

Kai looked up at them. "Lloyd!" he exclaimed. "You're okay!"

"Yeah!" Lloyd said. "I'm okay! I'm okay!"

He and Cole stood in the Bridge, soaked to the bone, so pale they could have been ghosts, and panting so hard that their chests swelled like balloons. They looked at each other.

They laughed.

They laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed. Cole fell to the floor laughing, and Lloyd was laughing so hard he couldn't breathe.

Kai stared at them in shocked silence.

He finally growled and shook his head. "You two are idiots," he said. "You really are two big fat idiots."

But the big fat idiots didn't hear him.

"Never again," Cole said, tears streaming down his face. "Never again am I taking you to the store with those _crazy_ fangirls on the loose, Lloyd."


End file.
